U.S. patent application number 10/652753 was filed with the patent office on 2005-03-03 for method and apparatus for generating service oriented state data and meta-data using meta information modeling.
This patent application is currently assigned to INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION. Invention is credited to An, Lianjun, Joseph, Joshy, Maguire, Thomas R..
Application Number | 20050050141 10/652753 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34217727 |
Filed Date | 2005-03-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050050141 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
An, Lianjun ; et
al. |
March 3, 2005 |
Method and apparatus for generating service oriented state data and
meta-data using meta information modeling
Abstract
A method and apparatus for generating service state data and
extensible meta-data information with a service oriented state data
generator (SSDG) comprising: establishing a platform independent,
extensible meta-data model for the meta-data information; obtaining
state data schema based on a service state data description;
defining an extensible set of meta-data attributes and templates
corresponding to the meta data based on requirements of a service;
and utilizing the meta-data model and based on the state data
schema and the attributes, generating service state data based on
the service state data schema; and The service state data including
at least one of: state data, state data logical mapping, state data
physical mapping, meta-data associated with the service state data
and meta-data model correlations associated with the meta-data.
Inventors: |
An, Lianjun; (Yorktown
Heights, NY) ; Joseph, Joshy; (Poughkeepsie, NY)
; Maguire, Thomas R.; (Brewster, NY) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Philmore H. Colburn II
Cantor Colburn LLP
55 Griffin Road South
Bloomfield
CT
06002
US
|
Assignee: |
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
CORPORATION
ARMONK
NY
|
Family ID: |
34217727 |
Appl. No.: |
10/652753 |
Filed: |
August 28, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
709/203 ;
707/999.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y10S 707/99943 20130101;
Y10S 707/99945 20130101; H04L 67/02 20130101; Y10S 707/99931
20130101; H04L 67/142 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
709/203 ;
707/100 |
International
Class: |
G06F 015/16 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method for generating service state data and extensible
meta-data information with a service oriented state data generator
(SSDG) comprising: establishing a platform independent, extensible
meta-data model for said meta-data information; obtaining state
data schema based on a service state data description; defining an
extensible set of meta-data attributes and templates corresponding
to said meta data based on requirements of a service; utilizing
said meta-data model and based on said state data schema and said
attributes, generating service state data based on said service
state data schema; and said service state data including at least
one of: state data, state data logical mapping, state data physical
mapping, meta-data associated with said service state data and
meta-data model correlations associated with said meta-data.
2. The method of claim 1 further including generating code to
enable said service to support a query on said service state data
and notification on service state data change.
3. The method of claim 1 further including generating code to
enable said service to provide access mechanisms on said service
state data.
4. The method of claim 1 further including creating service state
data from any data definition schema; wherein said data definition
schema include at least one of XML Schema, DTD, RELAX NG custom
schema definition languages, derivatives of said schema.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein said a meta-data modeling provides
flexibility in generating said service state data by providing
versioning, compatibility, and a flexible design process and a
standard code generation; and wherein said meta-data modeling in
indicative of schema or meta-data for said service state
meta-data.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein said meta-data model is supported
with a drag and drop window system wherein a service developer can
annotate said state data schema by drag and drop meta-data
information.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein said meta-data models employ a
common language including XML or a derivative thereof for
describing said meta-data that is extensible to support additional
meta-data features.
8. The method of claim 1 further including enabling a user to
define a mapping between meta-data and service state data; said
data mapping including at least one of a logical abstraction of
said service state data where this abstraction holds references to
real service instance data, and a direct mapping can be a direct
mapping to service state data.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein said meta-data attributes and
templates facilitate mapping meta-data to said service state data,
wherein said attributes are meta-data information on at least one
of service state constraints, service state qualifiers, service
state data access mechanisms.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein said defining meta-data
attributes includes extensible service state data qualifiers and:
defining notification qualifiers on said service state data to
indicate whether a change in said service state data promulgates
notification; defining security requirements on said service state
data discovery and notification; and defining transaction
qualifiers of said service state data.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein said defining meta-data
attributes includes defining extensible service state data
constraints and defining one or more relationships among said
service state data, wherein said extensible service state data
constraints include at least one of; constraints on mutability of
said service state data; constraints on validity of said service
state data including life time constraints; and constraints
cardinality of said service state data.
12. The method of claim 1 wherein said defining meta-data
attributes includes defining extensible service state data access
mechanisms, wherein said extensible service state data access
mechanisms include: a flexible callback mechanism on said service
state data and expression through said meta-data; a data push
mechanism for service state data update and expression through said
meta-data; other extensible data access mechanisms on said service
state data, including direct access to said service state data held
in a database or direct access to state data through SNMP,CIM, Web
services; and extensible custom template mechanisms for data access
based on requirements of a service.
13. The method of claim 1 further including generating pluggable
extension mechanisms for meta-data attributes.
14. The method of claim 1 further including obtaining service
developer feedback on meta-data generation for said service state
data; based on said meta-data attributes.
15. The method of claim 14 wherein said service developer feedback
is provided through custom dialog boxes; wherein said service
developer can pass parameters to said service oriented state data
generator; and wherein said service developer can provide templates
to guide said generating and said mapping.
16. The method of claim 1 further including a service developer
creating a relationship between selected service state data.
17. The method of claim 1 further including validating software
code based on said generating to ensure that said code is
compatible with said meta-data model and said state data
schema.
18. The method of claim 1 wherein said generator is configured as a
pluggable framework to facilitate use as an eclipse plug in or
included with other user interfaces frameworks.
19. A system for generating service state data and extensible
meta-data information with a service oriented state data generator
(SSDG) comprising: a means for establishing a platform independent,
extensible meta-data model for said meta-data information; a means
for obtaining state data schema based on a service state data
description; a means for defining an extensible set of meta-data
attributes and templates corresponding to said meta data based on
requirements of a service; a means for utilizing said meta-data
model and based on said state data schema and said attributes,
generating service state data based on said service state data
schema; and said service state data including at least one of:
state data, state data logical mapping, state data physical
mapping, meta-data associated with said service state data and
meta-data model correlations associated with said meta-data.
20. A storage medium encoded with a machine-readable computer
program code, said code including instructions for causing a
computer to implement a method for generating service state data
and extensible meta-data information with a service oriented state
data generator (SSDG), the method comprising: establishing a
platform independent, extensible meta-data model for said meta-data
information; obtaining state data schema based on a service state
data description; defining an extensible set of meta-data
attributes and templates corresponding to said meta data based on
requirements of a service; utilizing said meta-data model and based
on said state data schema and said attributes, generating service
state data based on said service state data schema; and said
service state data including at least one of: state data, state
data logical mapping, state data physical mapping, meta-data
associated with said service state data and meta-data model
correlations associated with said meta-data.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] This invention relates to computer systems information
communications. The invention particularly is directed to service
oriented state data and meta data. Today there is no built in
support in a service-oriented architecture (like web services) to
inform a client of its state changes. This is an important feature
for a service-oriented architecture as most computing systems are
asynchronous in nature and the client needs to acquire such a
change of the state through some asynchronous mechanisms.
[0002] In a service oriented component model (java services and/or
web services), the state of a component is held by the service
through its instance variables and/or session state variables
and/or persistence storage media and/or using external resources.
The service exposes its state information through various custom
application programming interfaces (APIs). This interface model is
not flexible and extensible, therefore each client has to program
code to fit-in specific APIs and to understand the semantics as
defined through the APIs. The clients are not flexible enough to
query state data based on its exposed information model (data
schema). The granularity and flexibility of these APIs vary with
different implementation.
[0003] Therefore, what is needed is a framework to define
mechanisms that enable a service to extend its state with change
notification semantics a flexible service state exposure model
through various queries on the state of the service using the
exposed state information model (schema).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] These and other improvements are set forth in the following
detailed description. For a better understanding of the invention
with advantages and features, refer to the description and to the
drawings.
[0005] Disclosed herein in an exemplary embodiment is a method for
generating service state data and extensible meta-data information
with a service oriented state data generator (SSDG) comprising:
establishing a platform independent, extensible meta-data model for
the meta-data information; obtaining state data schema based on a
service state data description; defining an extensible set of
meta-data attributes and templates corresponding to the meta data
based on requirements of a service; and utilizing the meta-data
model and based on the state data schema and the attributes,
generating service state data based on the service state data
schema; and The service state data including at least one of: state
data, state data logical mapping, state data physical mapping,
meta-data associated with the service state data and meta-data
model correlations associated with the meta-data.
[0006] Disclosed herein in another exemplary embodiment is a system
for generating service state data and extensible meta-data
information with a service oriented state data generator (SSDG)
comprising: a means for establishing a platform independent,
extensible meta-data model for the meta-data information; a means
for obtaining state data schema based on a service state data
description; a means for defining an extensible set of meta-data
attributes and templates corresponding to the meta data based on
requirements of a service; and a means for utilizing the meta-data
model and based on the state data schema and the attributes,
generating service state data based on the service state data
schema. The service state data including at least one of: state
data, state data logical mapping, state data physical mapping,
meta-data associated with the service state data and meta-data
model correlations associated with the meta-data.
[0007] Further disclosed herein in yet another exemplary embodiment
is a storage medium encoded with a machine-readable computer
program code, the code including instructions for causing a
computer to implement a method for generating service state data
and extensible meta-data information with a service oriented state
data generator (SSDG), the method comprising: establishing a
platform independent, extensible meta-data model for the meta-data
information; obtaining state data schema based on a service state
data description; defining an extensible set of meta-data
attributes and templates corresponding to the meta data based on
requirements of a service; and utilizing the meta-data model and
based on the state data schema and the attributes, generating
service state data based on the service state data schema. The
service state data including at least one of: state data, state
data logical mapping, state data physical mapping, meta-data
associated with the service state data and meta-data model
correlations associated with the meta-data.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] The present invention will now be described, by way of an
example, with references to the accompanying drawings, wherein like
elements are numbered alike in the several figures in which:
[0009] FIG. 1A depicts a simplified block diagram depicting and
exemplary computer implementation;
[0010] FIG. 1B depicts a simplified block diagram depicting client
service interaction for a query;
[0011] FIG. 1C depicts a simplified block diagram depicting client
service interaction for notification of a state change;
[0012] FIG. 2 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an
information communication framework including a gateway for service
oriented state in accordance with an exemplary embodiment;
[0013] FIG. 3 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an
information communication framework including a service oriented
state generator in accordance with an exemplary embodiment;
[0014] FIG. 4 depicts a relationship model in accordance with an
exemplary embodiment; and
[0015] FIG. 5 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an an
information communication framework including a pluggable
extensible meta data processor in accordance with an exemplary
embodiment.
[0016] Our detailed description explains the preferred embodiments
of our invention, together with advantages and features, by way of
example with reference to the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0017] Referring to FIGS. 1A-C and 2, disclosed herein in an
exemplary embodiment, is a method and apparatus for managing the
state data of a service in a service-oriented architecture. More
particularly, a framework 10a to define mechanisms that enable a
service 20 to extend its state with change notification semantics.
In an exemplary embodiment, a service 20 may reside in a computer 1
configured to communicate with various system elements aand media 2
including another computer with a client 30. Moreover, the client
could reside in the same computer 1 as the service 20.
[0018] The framework 10a enables a service 20 component with
various extensible data query support on service state data 22,
automatic notifying capability on service state data 22 change and
data transform flexibility on service state data 22. This framework
10a is flexible as clients 30 can write any query expressions on
the service state data 22; for example, a high level view of the
state data 22, or it may be a granular (fine-grain) view on the
state data 22. Advantageously, this framework 10a is extensible as
new type of service state can be plugged in to the service oriented
architecture. In an exemplary embodiment, these features are
achieved through pluggable processors 108, 110, 112 utilizing the
extensible meta-data framework 10a related to state data
qualifiers, constraints and access mechanism.
[0019] It will be appreciated that as used herein, architecture is
intended to mean both the process and the specifying of the overall
structure, logical components, and the logical interrelationships
of a computer, its operating system, a network, or other
conception. An architecture can be a reference model, such as the
Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model, intended as a
model for specific product architectures or it can be a specific
product architecture, such as that for a particular processor or
operating system.
[0020] Computer architecture can be divided into five fundamental
components: input/output, storage, communication, control, and
processing. In practice, each of these components (sometimes called
subsystems) is sometimes said to have an architecture, so, as
usual, context contributes to usage and meaning.
[0021] By comparison, the term design connotes thinking that has
less scope than architecture. An architecture is a design, but most
designs are not architectures. A single component or a new function
has a design that has to fit within the overall architecture.
[0022] A similar term,framework, may be thought of as the
structural part of an architecture but as used herein may also
include processes. A framework may include both the process and the
specifying of the overall structure, logical components, and the
logical interrelationships of a system, processor and the like.
[0023] A tool set may be thought of as a collection of tools or
functions to create artifacts (e.g., effects, code, schema, data,
and the like) from a set of iputs with the assistance of a user
intervention.
[0024] A component is a physical or non-physical abstraction
element that provides/facilitates a selected set of
funcitonalities/capabilities of the architecture and/or
framework.
[0025] Another beneficial feature of this framework 10a is the
support of data transformation for the client 30. There are
different types of clients, based on the heterogeneous nature of
the transport, presentation media, QoS and formatting requirements.
These clients 30 access the service 20 for its state data 22 and
expect the results formulated/configured in a manner appropriate
for their consumption. In an exemplary embodiment, a framework 10a
for transformation of the service state data 22 for the client(s)
20 based on their requirements is provided. These requirements may
include transformation of the service state data 22 to a format
that they can understand and utilize; for example, a stock quote
service state data from a stock quote service may be converted into
Wireless Markup Language (WML) format for a mobile device display
or into Voice Extensible Markup Lanuguage (XML) format for a voice
enabled device.
[0026] It is noteworthy to appreciate that a service-oriented
architecture and the framework 10a of an exemplary embodiment
disclosed herein facilitate and provide the following:
[0027] 1. Enable a query on a current state of the service 20,
preferably using a client specified query language;
[0028] 2. Enable the service 20 to send service state data 22
changes to selected interested clients.
[0029] 3. Transform a result of such queries and notification
information to a client specified format.
[0030] An exemplary embodiment addresses the above requirements for
a service-oriented architecture with a set of meta-data information
and pluggable/adaptable interfaces and tooling. Advantageously the
meta-data framework 10a is extensible to support state data
qualifiers (security, transaction enable/disable, transaction scope
and the like), constraints (availability, time constraints, time to
live, mutability, cardinality, etc) and access mechanisms (push,
pull and custom access mechanisms).
[0031] Refering now to FIGS. 1B and FIG. 1C, an illustration of the
components involved in the framework 10a of an exemplary embodiment
are depicted. An exemplary illustration of a process and
communication between a service 20 and a client 30 are depicted. A
service 20 e.g., Java Service / Web service, State Address Provider
service, and the like, has some state information/data 22 such as
an address, and would like to enable its clients 30 to query 40
this state using some query language including, but not limited to,
XQuery, ISQL, XSL EJBOL and the like. For example the client 20 may
query the zip code from the address. Moreover, as depicted in FIG.
1C, a service 20, e.g., Java service, web service, State Address
Provider service, has some state information, in this instance an
Address and would like to send notifications 42 of a state change,
e.g., address change, to the various clients 30 that are/may be
interested in listening to the state data changes.
[0032] Gateway for a Service Oriented State
[0033] Turning now to FIG. 2, a simplified block diagram of the
framework 10a of an exemplary embodiment is depicted. In an
exemplary embodiment the framework 10a includes and describes a
Gateway for a Service Oriented State(GSOS) 100 and its features. A
GSOS 100 is responsible for managing the service state data 22 in a
service-oriented architecture. Service state data 22 may be a
logical, or physical abstraction, state and/or state data 22 in
logical sense could be just a pointer, or a physical construct,
such as a real address. This service state data 22 abstraction and
meta-data information may be created using the tools optionally
provided along with this framework 10a in another exemplary
embodiment. This framework 10a employing the GSOS of an exemplary
embodiment includes, but is not limited to, these components and
functionalities:
[0034] 1. A meta-data definition;
[0035] 2. An extensible meta-data processor;
[0036] 3. An interfaces framework to define the interactions
between a service 20 and the GSOS 100.
[0037] 4. A pluggable interface to support service state data
Query, notification and transformation.
[0038] Meta-Data Definition
[0039] The meta-data definition of an exemplary embodiment is an
extensible set of state data constraints, qualifiers and data
access mechanisms. The meta-data definition is an information model
associated with the state data 22 and provides more semantic
information on the service's 20 state. This meta-data definition
may be an extension to the state data 22 schema through annotations
on the schema or can be a more general-purpose language such as
Resource Description Framework (RDF), DARPA Agent Markup
Language(DAML), and others). In an exemplary embodiment the GSOS
100 employs an XML model to define this meta-data information.
[0040] An Extensible Meta-Data Processor
[0041] An extensible meta-data processor 300 (See also FIG. 4)
includes a rule engine to process the meta-data associated with the
state data 22 of a service 20. This rule engine is complex in
nature by providing expert decision based on the meta-data. These
decisions include when to notify a state change, interpret the
semantics of the query and retrieve the state from an external
resource (e.g., SQL, Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
server, Common Information Model Object Manager (CIMOM), web
services) or from the service 20, make a decision on the
transaction requirements and security constraints, to make
decisions on the validity and availability of the state data 22 to
make the decision about which query processor to use based on user
and/or client query criteria. It will be appreciated that as
described herein the extensible meta-data processor 300 is
described as a part of or imbedded with the GSOS 100. However the
meta-data processor 300 may also be pluggable with the GSOS
providing the appropriate interfaces. It will be appreciated that
the framework 10a provides an extension capability based on
meta-data language extensibility to support custom scenarios.
[0042] Interface Framework to Define the Interaction Between a
Service and GSOS
[0043] In an exemplary embodiment, the GSOS 100 provides a standard
interface to define the interactions between the service 20 and
GSOS 100. In an exemplary embodiment three types of interface are
employed:
[0044] A. State meta-data management interface 102;
[0045] B. Gateway access interface 104; and
[0046] C. State data access interface 106 from the service or from
external resources.
[0047] A Pluggable Architecture to Support Service State Data
Query, Notification and Transformation
[0048] In an exemplary embodiment, the GSOS 100 also provides
interface to a number of pluggable processors to facilitate and
support service state data Queries, Client notification and
transformations. It will be appreciated that while in an exemplary
embodiment three such pluggable processors are depicted and
described, any number of pluggable processors and interfaces are
conceivable without loss of generality. Moreover, it should be
further appreciated that it is also conceivable to employ multiple
processors of similar types. For example, multiple query interfaces
108 and processors 110 may be utilized to facilitate the needs of
the framework 10a, and/or client 30, and the like.
[0049] Query
[0050] The query interface 108 enables the GSOS 100 to support any
query language and processor 110 of of a client's 20 choice. The
user/client 20 creates a query based on the schema associated with
the state. GSOS 100 is responsible for applying the query on the
state data 22 based on the meta-data information and it presents
the Query results on service state data 22 to the query processor
110 in a canonical schema format understandable to the processor
110, In addition GSOS 100 also provides caching mechanisms to
support faster query process. In an illustrative implementation of
an exemplary embodiment of a GSOS 100 and the query interface 108
supports an in-memory XML Document Object Model (DOM) programming
interface.
[0051] Notification
[0052] The GSOS 100 supports pluggable notification processors 114
with a notification processor interface 112 based on selected
notification requirements. These requirements include service state
aggregation, queuing, periodic delivery, and asynchronous
behaviors. GSOS 100, based on the service state meta-data
information automatically sends the state change information to
this processor 114 with the current and old value of the state data
22.
[0053] Transformation
[0054] Based on a client's 20 request, the GSOS 100 framework
transforms the results of a query or change notification to a
format as prescribed by the client 20. The GSOS 100 incluses a
transfrom processor interface 116 to facilitate plug-in of any
transformation processor 118 of choice.
[0055] Service Oriented State Data and State Meta-Data Generation
Using Meta Information Modeling
[0056] Disclosed herein in another exemplary embodiment is a method
and apparatus for generating service state data and extensible
meta-data information based on the state data schema for a
service-oriented architecture. This framework, uses a meta
information model on the top of the state meta-data to provide more
flexibility in modeling, versioning and compatibility. This enables
the service component to be used with the framework utilizing the
Gateway for Service Oriented State (GSOS) disclosed earlier, for
various extensible data query support on service state data,
automatic notifying capability on service state data change and
data transform flexibility on service state data.
[0057] Referring now to FIG. 3, a framework denoted here as 10b as
an other exemplary embodiment and expansion of that described
earlier, utilizing a service oriented state generator 200
hereinafter also denoted SSDG is depicted. In a service oriented
component (e.g., java services and/or web services, enterprise, and
the like), the state of a component is held by the service 20
through its instance variables and/or session state variables
and/or persistence storage media and/or using external resources.
The Gateway for Service Oriented State (GSOS) 100 and framework
10b, provides a flexible service state exposure model through
various queries on the state of the service 20 using an exposed
state information model (data schema). This framework 10b including
the GSOS 100 is configured to be flexible and permits clients 20 to
formulate query expressions on the service state data 22. This
framework 10b also provides a means to define mechanisms to enable
a service 20 to extend its state with change notification
semantics. This extensible framework 10b depends on the state data
and its meta-data information.
[0058] In an exemplary embodiment, a tool set shown generally as 12
(a service state generator framework) is defined to support
creation of state data 22 with the necessary meta-data. Once again,
this generated state data may be a logical or physical mapping to a
service state data 22. This tool set 12 can operate on any data
schema 210 (e.g., XML Schema, Document Type Definition (DTD),
Regular Language Description For XML--Next Generaton (RELAX-NG)
Schema). This service state generator 200 provides the maximum
flexibility by using a meta-model 220 for modeling the state
meta-data. The use of this modeling metaphor helps in defining a
meta-data language with versioning, compatibility, a standard for
tools to work on the state-data and a standard for code
generation.
[0059] In an exemplary embodiment the tool set 12 and state data
generator 200 provides numerous advantages and features for
generation of service state data 22 utilizing various meta data and
schema. For example, the tool set 12 and state data generator 200
generates state data, state data logical mapping and/or physical
mapping, meta-data associated with the state data, and includes
meta-data model 220 associated with the meta-data. The tool set 12
generates the necessary interfaces and code to support the state
data and its usage in a service 20. In addition, this tool set 12
facilitates creation of the state data in the framework 10b as a
logical grouping or as a direct physical representation with the
necessary interfaces to support the meta-data requirements like
serializes and deserializers, data push and pull mechanisms
etc.
[0060] The tool set 12 and SSDG 200 works in conjunction with state
data schema 210 and a meta-data language. The meta-data language is
a common language for describing the meta-data through meta data
models 220 (meta-data about meta-data) to facilitate and ensure
compatibility with previous versions. This can be any existing XML
languages or a derivative thereof. Moreover, the tool kit 12
facilitates extension to support new meta-data features. This
toolset 12 works with state data schema 210; these state schema 210
may be associated with the WSDL (Web Service Description Language)
through port type (interface) extensibility or by including
external schema definitions. The state data schema 210 may be, but
are not limited to, XML schema, RELAX-NG, Reverse Description
Framework (RDF), and the like.
[0061] Other inputs to the SSDG 200 may inlcude custom templates
230, meta-data attributes 240 and meta-information models etc.
[0062] a. Meta-data attributes 240 include, but are not limited to:
Qualifiers: security, transaction, notifiability, and the like;
constraints: state data mutability, Time To Live (TTL) features,
cardinality, and relationship (workflow) information etc.; and Data
access mechanisms: callback mechanisms, data push mechanisms,
extensible data access mechanisms like connectivity to data base,
Common Information Model Object TBD (CIMOM), Simple Network
Management Protocol (SNMP) server and the like.
[0063] b. Meta information models 220 may be viewed as a schema or
meta-data for the service state meta-data. Meta information
modeling provides flexibility in the service state data 22 and
meta-data design process by providing versioning, compatibility,
flexible design process, and a standard code generation. The
meta-data model based meta data, enables the tool set 12 to provide
model versioning mechanisms. FIG. 4 depicts a relationship model in
accordance with an exemplary embodiment illustrating the
relationships among the elements of the tool set 12. Specifically,
the relationships between the SSDG 200, meta-data model 220, and
attributes 240 are illustrated.
[0064] c. Custom templates 230 include, but are not limited to,
custom attributes (e.g., user defined attributes) and default
values for the state meta-data.
[0065] The tool set 12 and SSDG 200 provides a Graphical User
Interface (GUI) based and/or a command line solution to generate
the state data 22 of a service 20 and to create the necessary
meta-data and mapping information associated with that state data
22. Moreover, use GUI features like custom dialogs with user, drag
and drop of meta-data information, flexible context menus and
flexible ways to create state data relationships (workflows).
[0066] The tool set 12 and SSDG 200 includes a capability to obtain
user (service developer) feedbacks on meta-data generation for a
service state data 22; based on the attributes 240, e.g.,
qualifiers, constraints and data access mechanisms associated with
the state data.
[0067] a. User can give feedbacks through custom dialog boxes. This
tool set 12 can query developer feedback on the type of attributes
240 e.g., qualifiers for a state data; transaction requirements,
access control information, notifiable capabilities etc.
[0068] b. User can pass parameters to this generator tool set
12;
[0069] c. User can provide templates to guide the meta-data
generation and mapping.
[0070] The tool set 12 and SSDG 200 is developed and configured as
a pluggable framework so that it can be used as an eclipse plug in
or can be included with other user interfaces frameworks. User
e.g., developer for the service 20, may define an extensible set of
meta-data information and generate pluggable extension mechanisms
for meta-data attributes 240, e.g., data qualifiers, constraints
and access mechanisms based on the service 20 needs. Provides
meta-data model 220 extensibility through pluggable frameworks.
This enables a service developer to support custom meta-data
attributes 240.
[0071] The tool set 12 provides a set of validation facilities to
validate the meta-data based on meta-data model 220 and data schema
210. Moreover, the tool set 12 also provides some runtime
validation on the access mechanisms. As an example, a user can
validate data access using SQL queries and CIM against the
utilities supplied.
[0072] The tool set 12 enables a state workflow model for
developing a service state collaboration and state
relationship.
[0073] State Meta-Data Processors Based on Meta Information
Modeling in a Service Oriented Architecture
[0074] Disclosed herein in yet another exemplary embodiment is a
method and apparatus for embedded/pluggable state meta-data
processors based on a meta information model in a service-oriented
architecture. This framework provides one ore more processors
generated from a meta model for Gateway for Service Oriented State
(GSOS) framework as described above, with an extended set of
capabilities by utilizing the extensible meta-information model
framework also described herein, in order to process the meta-data
related to state data qualifiers, constraints and access
mechanisms. These processors are defined and can be executed in a
service specific controller engine, which provides process flow and
orchestration capabilities.
[0075] Referring now to FIG. 5, in a service oriented architecture,
the Gateway for Service Oriented State (GSOS) framework 10a (FIG.
2) and 10b (FIG. 3), provides a flexible service state exposure
model through various queries on the state of the service using the
exposed state information model (e.g., state data schema). This
GSOS framework also facilitates defining mechanisms to enable a
service 20 to extend its state with change notification semantics.
Another feature of the abovementioned frameworks 10a, 10 b is the
support of data transformation for the client 30 in a manner
appropriate for their consumption. These extensible frameworks
depend on the state data and its meta-data and a meta-data
information model 220 (meta-data about meta-data). This meta-data
provides state data qualifiers (security, transaction and
notifiability etc), constraints (mutability, time to live) and
access mechanisms (database connection, connection to CIMOM, SNMP
etc). These meta-data are modeled using the meta information models
220 and this enables the application developer to create new meta
models and/or extend the existing meta-models with new service
defined semantics.
[0076] In yet another exemplary embodiment a framework 10 c for
processing meta-data and its associated semantics through
embedded/pluggable and extensible meta-data processors 300 is
described. Once again, it will be appreciated that the framework 10
c for the meta-data processor 300 may be implemented in conjunction
with the GSOS 100 and framework 10a, as well as the tool set 12 and
SSDG and framwork 10 b. The meta-data processsor as described
herein in an exemplary embodiment may be considered embedded with
the GSOS 100 or as pluggable thereto. Described herein in another
exemplary embodiment is a framework 10 c to use some workflow
models (custom or pre-existing) to control the invocation flow and
processing logics of the meta-data processors 300. In short, this
permits definition of a meta information driven architecture, with
platform independent models (PIM) for the state meta-data and with
platform specific models (PSM) for semantic processors to process
the meta-data associated with the state data.
[0077] Advantageously, the framework 10 c of an exemplary
embodiment includes a model driven architecture with platform
independent models to define the meta-data for the state data and
platform dependent models for specific (semantic) processing of
this state meta-data based on the meta-data model 220. The
separation of platform dependent and independent models enables an
application developer. to create flexible state data processing
rules for any type of (EJBs, Java beans, NET services etc) service
component.
[0078] Moreover, any number of generic semantic processors may be
created and utilized to manage the state meta-data processing. Such
a configuration permits a service developer to write specific
extensions for semantics processing. One advantage facilitated by
such generic semantics processing capability is that it permits
flexiblility for model extensions and application processing
extensions. Another capability of the semantic processors 302 is
facilitates association of work flow mechanism (custom or
preexisting orchestration engines).
[0079] As shown in the FIG. 2, as described above the Gateway for
Service Oriented State (GSOS) is composed of a number of
components. These components inlcude, but are not limited to,
meta-data processors 300 (generated by meta-model tools and/or by
the service developer and its extensions), interfaces to connect to
the GSOS, an internal meta-data representation 102 and interfaces
to connect to external systems and processors 108, 112, 116 (query,
notification and transformation). In an exemplary embodiment as
disclosed herein relates to meta-data processor(s) 300 and their
relation to meta-data 310 , meta-data information model 220, and a
processor execution flow model. Moreover, a framework 10 c for
service specific controller processor (a service specific meta-data
processor), which is responsible for managing the meta-data
processing based on service specific requirements including
introspection on meta-data 310 and meta-data processor 300 flow
orchestration.
[0080] The major components of this process framework 10 c and
meta-data processor 300 includes, but are not limited to, a
meta-data information model 220, meta-data information 310,
semantic information processors 302, controller meta-data
processors 304, as well as interfaces 102, 104, 106 for these
processors 302, 304, and syntax, semantics and work flow
information 320 for these processors 302, 304.
[0081] Meta-data Information Model
[0082] Once again, meta-data information model 220 is employed to
define meta-data about state meta-data. In an exemplary embodiment,
this model 220 is platform independent (PI) and and platform
extensible (PE) model with information including:
[0083] Meta-data syntax for state meta-data validation, versioning
and consistency check;
[0084] Meta-data semantics for,
[0085] a. Common semantic information on State data constraints,
qualifiers and data access mechanisms
[0086] b. Rules for processing the above meta-data semantics
[0087] c. Meta-data processing (execution of semantic logics)
workflow information;
[0088] Meta-data relationship; and
[0089] Meta-data extensibility to meet service needs.
[0090] This is a flexible information model and may be expressed in
any model language (e.g., XML Metadata Interchange (XMI), Meta
Object Facility (MOF), Unified Modeling Language (UML) and the
like) and can be used by the Service Oriented State Data Generator
SSDG 200 and tool set 12 to create a meta-data and generic semantic
processors 302 to handle those meta-data 310.
[0091] As an example, we can define the semantic information on the
transaction requirements on the state data through a meta-data
model 220. The meta-data model 220 contains the platform
independent model of the transaction attributes including
transaction type, isolation level, locking etc. A service 20
developer can work with the tool set 12 as described previously
herein with respect to the Service Oriented State Data Generator
SSDG 200 (shown in FIG. 4) to generate platform specific models
including a meta-data processor 300 for transaction management and
transactional deployment and runtime configuration information for
that specific platform.
[0092] Meta-data Information
[0093] For each service state data 22 (logical or physical
mapping), there is a meta-data mapping associated with the service
state data 22 with details on its constraints, qualifiers and state
data access mechainisms. These meta-data 310 arc instances of the
meta-information model 220 and forms the core data for the GSOS 100
to work with. This mapping information enables the design of a
flexible state management framework. In an exemplary embodiment,
tools are utilized to create these service state meta-data 310.
These meta-data are associated with a meta-model for versioning,
validation, consistency and process semantics.
[0094] Semantic Information Processors Based On Meta-Model To
Process Meta Data
[0095] These semantic information processors 302 are created from
the platform specific modeling artifacts, which are derived from
the platform independent meta model. These processors 302 provide
service 20 developers an interface to define rule engines to
process the semantics associated with the meta-data 310. In other
words, these processors 302 enforce the constraints on the state
data specified by the meta-data 310. These processors may be built
in platform specific and/or container specific processors to handle
meta-data constraints, qualifiers and data access mechanisms. Once
example of such a processor can be a transaction processor to
process the transactional requirements on a state data access.
These platform specific processors 302 may be configured to work in
conjunction with a platform specific transaction coordinator to
execute the transactional requirements on the state-data. These
processors are configured to follow some specific contracts
(interfaces and process flow) to conform to the meta-data model 220
as defined earlier. These are pluggable and extensible processors
based on the model version and service specific requirements.
[0096] In an exemplary embodiment, the Semantic Information
Meta-data processors 302 are configured to be platform dependent
where each service extensible processor 302 relates to selected
meta-model semantics with a rule engine to execute the meta-data
semantics. Each semantic processor 302 follows a well defined
contract model dictated by th control processor 304 for
interoperability between semantic processors 302. Advantageously,
the semantic meta-data processsor 302 may employ a standard
programming model to access and discover meta-data. In addition
these processors may be employed to validate the meta-data using a
meta-data model 220.
[0097] Controller Meta-data Processors
[0098] The controller processors 304 are service specific meta-data
processors (acting as controller) 304, that define the contracts
between the semantic processors 302 and control the flow of data
between the semantic processors 302 based on the state meta data
information. The service 20 developer, based on the rules defined
in the meta-data and meta-data model 220 can develop these
processors 304 and contracts. A tool set may be used to develop the
basic skeleton of this processor 302. This processor provides a
state meta-data and state data repository. This repository can be
physical representation (caching) for improved performance or can
be a logical representation with external storage in the service 20
or elsewhere (databases). In an exemplary embodiment, the
functionalities provided by this processor 304 include, but are not
limited to, validation of the meta-data with meta-data model 220,
introspection on the meta-data to identify and select an
appropriate processor execution engine, control of the semantic
processor(s) 302 execution flow using an appropriate orchestration
engine, providing contract definition among various semantic
meta-data processors 302, and providing flow mechanisms between
semantic meta-data processors 302. The control processor may also
provide a meta-data or state data repository.
[0099] Interfaces and Process Flow
[0100] All the meta-data processors 302, 304 should follow some
defined contract information and of course, would need to follow
well-defined interface requirements. In an exemplary embodiment a
state less model of meta-data processors is defined. These
contracts are used for managing interfaces such as, life cycle
management, state management, and processing contracts (data flow,
validation, versioning etc). The contracts also faciltate
management of process flow by coordinate work flow with a workflow
engine, and implementing workflow requirements.
[0101] To reiterate, these meta-data processors 300 provides a
pluggable and extensible framework 10 c for managing the state data
through its meta-data semantics. This state data can be local to
the service or can be stored elsewhere or can be held in any
external resource. These meta-data processors 300 provides a common
view of the data to the client by providing abstract models (meta
models) whereby hiding the internal platform specific details.
[0102] The disclosed invention can be embodied in the form of
computer, controller, or processor implemented processes and
apparatuses for practicing those processes. The present invention
can also be embodied in the form of computer program code
containing instructions embodied in tangible media 2 (FIG. 1A),
such as floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, hard drives, or any other
computer-readable storage medium, wherein, when the computer
program code is loaded into and executed by a computer, controller,
or processor 1, the computer, controller, or processor 1 becomes an
apparatus for practicing the invention. The present invention may
also be embodied in the form of computer program code as a data
signal 3, for example, whether stored in a storage medium, loaded
into and/or executed by a computer, controller, or processor 1, or
transmitted over some transmission medium, such as over electrical
wiring or cabling, through fiber optics, or via electromagnetic
radiation, wherein, when the computer program code is loaded into
and executed by a computer, the computer becomes an apparatus for
practicing the invention. When implemented on a general-purpose
processor, 1 the computer program code segments configure the
processor to create specific logic circuits.
[0103] It will be appreciated that the use of first and second or
other similar nomenclature for denoting similar items is not
intended to specify or imply any particular order unless otherwise
stated.
[0104] While the invention has been described with reference to an
exemplary embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the
art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be
substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope
of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to
adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the
invention without departing from the essential scope thereof.
Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the
particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for
carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include
all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended
claims.
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